finishing up my studio - monitors & condenser

[icarus73]

My band will be recording our full-length in early 2008. We're getting all the drums done at a professional studio and doing the rest in our home studio.

I have an 002r with PTLE 7.4.

I'm going to be doing guitars with my Beta57 close-mic'd as well as a condenser a few feet back. I'll be doing bass by mixing DI from my amp and a beta57 mic signal. Vocals with a single condenser.

I need monitors and a condenser basically, obviously i need the most bag for the buck, so here's what i was thinking:

Monitors: KRK RP8 Rockit powered 2-way active
Vocal, secondary guitar mic: Audio Technica AT4040

Any better options in the same price range for those?

also, i'm afraid that the vocals won't sound strong enough, but I can't afford AutoTune, nor am I sure i'd even know where the hell to start with actually using it. Any easy, free or affordable solutions? I basically don't have any plugins besides what comes with 7.4 in AudioSuite. I bought everything used and I don't have auth codes for any of the factory plugins like amplitube or reason. Any plugins I MUST have?

Thanks,
Tim

[NoiseRoom]

I'd take a look at the Studio Projects C3's. They are versatile and worked well with the vocals we did. Make sure some sort of preamp is in the equation as well.

Good luck!

[nedorama]

I agree - save for a good preamp as well as a pop filter - that helps in taming plosive p's and such.

For plugins, you can do a lot with the included Digi EQs and compressors, and then learn as you go. But with a good preamp, at least you're getting the best signal you can to disk, and then you can mess around with plugins to your heart's content.

For me, I find I constantly use the following:
Mics: Shure KSM27, SM57, SM58 -vocals, guitar
Preamp - Summit 2BA-221
EQ - URS Neve EQ, or BombFactory Pultec EQP1
Compressor - Bombfactory LA2A or 1176

Sends:
Reverb - I use a Lexicon MPX500 running through its digital in and out to my 002R for reverb. It doesn't tie up the processor and sounds great.
Slap Delay - I use the standard Digi plugin set to a small L-R delay

Master
PSP VintageWarmer to tie everything together

I've accumulated this over the years, but you can start with what you have and go from there. Good luck!

[comprodman]

I invested in some Tannoy Reveal Actives, and a focusrute platinum pre, and a few Mic's I tend to buy as I need. The AT4040 will serve you well, please put it in the case when not in use and store away.

57's and 58's are great mic's for guitar's and live vocals Studio vocals an AKG C3000 is a great budget condensor Mic.

Plugins....buy what you can afford for the job...it's all about being able to do the job in hand, if you can do it with what you have then great, there are free RTAS plugins out there I don't have a clue how good they are though. If you try Ebay I have bought some great plugins for as little as £5 or $10 plus transfer fee of $25 or £12.50
http://search-desc.ebay.co.uk/ILok_W...Z1QQsofocusZbs

[Ziko]

Have you treated your home studio to clean up the room sound?

I went through the exact same process earlier this year, drums at a pro studio then overdubs at home.

By far and away the best thing I did was buy a bunch of commercial sound absorption panels, cover them in stretchy material and hang em on the walls of my studio (way cheaper than auralex etc).
The recordings sounded light years better (nice and close and direct, no funny muddy or boxy sound) and I could rely on what I was hearing back through my monitors as I knew the room had a neutral sound.

As far as recording vocals goes, you really do need to match the mic to the voice/style, I'd recommend getting your setup all sorted and then seeing if you can get 3 or 4 mics on demo for a day or two. Get your vocalist in, try em all out and see what works best for that person.

Re AutoTune, that's a bad way to start out, looking at using software like that. It ain't easy to use and gerneally doesn't sound great at all. I'd concentrate on getting the best performance from your vocalist, get the headphone mix just right, maybe put some reverb on his/her voice just in his cans, some vocalists really like that. If he/she isn't an experienced pro, suggest they go see a pro teacher for one or two sessions just to find out how to prepare for a sessions properly: vocal warm ups etc. Get the studio environment feeling just right for your vocalist, it's amazing how these things really make a difference.
Oh and out of my own experience (I'm a vocalist too) once you've done 4 or 5 takes of a song or passage in a song, things generally go down hill. Take a break and then work on something else is usually the best option. I always find take 2 and 3 most often are the ones.